Like father like son, says Anthony

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He may have kicked off his directorial journey in Bollywood with Akshay Kumar, but there’s more to Anthony D’Souza’s relationship with the actor. It all started with Akki’s father. “This was in the mid-90s when Tony (as the director is fondly called) was trying to make name for himself in the industry. He was exploring opportunities to direct short films, documentaries, advertisements, music videos etc. He happened to meet Akshay’s father who was working with UNICEF at that time. So impressed was the latter with his work, that he promptly gave him a few documentary assignments for UNICEF. Little did Tony know that a few years down the line, he would be directing Akshay in his first commercial venture, Blue,” informs a source.
The two have come together this time, for Tony's soon-to-be-released Boss. “I don’t even know if Akki knows that his father was instrumental in giving me a break. We never discussed it during Blue or Boss. He was a star even when I was just starting out, but the senior Bhatia (Akshay’s original last name) never made a mention of his son. They are both very humble people,” says Anthony who is very happy with his association with the father-son duo.